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Obdant

History

In his service as a Catachan, Obdant has seen his entire family die in combat and has taken part in countless battles.[2] Among them, was the Imperium's battle against the Orks on the jungle Death World Maypax, that the 19'ers are currently taking part in. Obdant considered it to be the most pointless campaign he had fought in and did not know why the 19'ers were there. In his mind, the Platoon was among the best its Regiment had and they were being wasted on a world of little strategic importance. Worse still, the Captain believed the 19'ers' had suffered more casualties on Maypax than in any other battle they had fought in[2] and thought the losses were more than was necessary or acceptable.[1] Despite this, though, Obdant never allowed any of the 19'ers to dishonor their dead by criticizing the battles being fought on the world.[1]

A respite came, when the 19'ers Jamona Hilt, who had transferred in from a non-Catachan Regiment, found a slaughtered party of Adeptus Mechanicus Explorators. When Hilt brought Obdant to the site, one of the Explorators still lived and he implored the Captain to find a temple that contained an artefact. However before he could say anything else, the Explorator died of his wounds. Afterwards, Hilt told Obdant that finding the temple could be of interest to them, as the artefact it held could be valuable. The Captain agreed and chose to take the 19'ers Moravcisk, the[1] Spakona[3] brothers, the Sentinel operator Trathlin[1] and the Ogryn Moom [3] with him to find it. The rest of the Platoon meanwhile, would continue its battle against the Orks. However before they left, Trathlin was found dead and the 19'ers' Chiurgeon informed Obdant that he was likely killed by a bite from one of Maypax's insects. Though the Chiurgeon did remark that the bite resembled a needle puncture. Soon after leaving the Chiurgeon, Hilt met with Obdant and offered to take Trathlin's place as the group's Sentinel operator. Though the 19'ers had only known Hilt for a few months, the Captain felt he had no choice due to the circumstances and agreed. With their group now set, Obdant led them in search of the temple and the treasure it contained.[1]

As they traveled through Maypax's jungles, Hilt asked the Captain why he decided to loot the temple for the artefact. From what Hilt knew, their Regiment considered Obdant to be a highly loyal officer - at least by the Catachans' standards. The Captain simply replied it was because he had never lost as many Guardsmen as he had on Maypax and he had no idea why they were fighting there. Their conversation ended soon afterwards, but the questioning convinced Obdant that Hilt would betray them in order to claim the artefact for himself.[2] The group later found the temple and the floating piece of armor it contained,[3] though Slath[2] and Yurden Spakona died before they did so.[3] It was then that, as Obdant had expected, Hilt betrayed the group and leveled a firearm at them.[3] He went on to compliment the Captain in figuring out his treachery beforehand and told them the fragment was the artefact they had sought. The fragment had come from the armour of the Death Guard Typhus the Traveller himself and it was sought after by his superiors in the Adeptus Mechanicus. They wished to claim the Fragment of Typhus, before it fell into the wrong hands, but the two Explorator teams the Mechanicus had sent were killed by Maypax's numerous dangers. Hilt revealed, though, that he was the backup plan in case the second Explorator team failed and that was why the Mechanicus had inserted him into the expendable 19'ers. Once the second Explorator was killed, Hilt manipulated Obdant into raiding the temple, so he could claim the Fragment for the Mechaicus. With his explanation done, Hilt was about to shoot 19'ers and make his escape with the Fragment, when he was surprised attacked by Moom before he could do so.[4]

The Ogryn's attack knocked Hilt unconscious, but in doing so the Adeptus Mechanicus agent hit the pillar the Fragment of Typhus was floating on. This caused the temple to begin to collapse and as the 19'ers made their escape, Obdant ordered that Hilt and the Fragment be taken as well, as he thought they could be useful. The group was then able to escape, before the temple was destroyed. However they then found themselves facing a horde of Orks, who had been waiting near the temple's entrance.[4] As they faced their final stand, which Obdant had often thought of, the Captain knew his surviving Guardsmen, Moom and Keb, had fought with distinction and were true 19'ers. He lamented, though, that the same could not apply to him, as Obdant had allowed his judgement to be clouded by his pride and bitterness. This had let him allow Hilt to manipulate the 19'ers, that Obdant had led on this journey and most had paid the price with their lives. However just as the Captain was about to give his final orders to attack the Orks, a Valkyrie suddenly appeared above them and deployed a force of Serica Twenty-Seventh Guardsmen. They were led by Captain Crowvek, who told Obdant they had been ordered to defend the 19'ers and the Fragment of Typhus they carried. Working together, the Catachans, Hilt and the Serica manage to defeated the Orks. Afterwards, though, Hilt ordered Crowvek to execute Obdant and the other 19'ers for treachery against the Imperium and for disobeying the orders of a superior officer. Crowvek refused to do so, as that was not among the orders the Serica had been given, but the matter was dealt with when Moom attacked Hilt again. The Serica then left aboard the Valkyrie with an unconsciousness Hilt and the Fragment, which they would deliver to the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars. With the artefact recovered, Obdant told Keb and Moom that he hoped any transgressions that the 19'ers had committed, would be forgotten about. The Captain then told Keb that his actions on the journey had honored his[5] slain[2] brothers,[3] who had died during the journey. Obdant concluded though, that Keb had to remember that the war the 19'ers's fought, would never be won.[5]

Sources

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